Friday, December 28, 2012

Photo Friday 2012 ~ 52 ~

Another year of Photo Friday is almost over.  I can't believe I've kept it up for 3 years.  I have a habit of not always finishing what I start, so I consider this a pretty big accomplishment.  Every year I struggle with whether or not to continue and this year is no different.  I'll think about it this week and you'll just have to check back next week and see!  I know that I have slacked off this year as far as blogging goes and I'd like to post more of just us being us because when I look back at old posts those are the ones I like the best.  I like the favorite photos of the week too because I can look at a whole year and see what we did in a nutshell.  Obviously I have some more thinking to do.  This week was jam packed with Christmas activities and I have a bunch of favorite photos.  I have a ton of Christmas photos to go through and I'll probably post a bunch next week.  We still haven't even finished celebrating because we still have to go to my in-laws next weekend!  It's kinda nice having it spread out like that so we can enjoy Christmas even longer than usual.  Although I do feel a little weird taking down my tree before all the celebrating is done, but to be honest I can't wait to get the house back to normal.  It always feels so big and clean when I'm done.  On to the photos.  Here you go!

I realize that this doesn't look very Christmas-y, but it was taken on our visit to see Santa.  I waited too long this year and decided not to go downtown to the Macy's Santa (huge mistake I won't make again) and we went to Bass Pro Shop instead.  You can take your own photos there too which is why I picked it.  It was nice, but both the kids right away commented on how that was definitely not the real Santa because he had a fake beard and my son said, "that Santa looks like a young man to me."  Which is true, he was probably in his 30's.  That was disappointing.  The great part was the toys they had out for the kids to play with and of course the huge aquarium in the middle of the store which my kids loved.  It had one of those bubble things that goes into the aquarium and it was so funny watching my son play in it.  He kept getting freaked out that he was going to fall in or something.  He warmed up to it and didn't want to leave his little spot.  It was so cute!

Christmas Eve at my mom's house.  I loved both of their outfits this year and I actually got a picture of both of them smiling!  A Christmas miracle. :)

My son was cracking us up during the present opening.  Grandmama had a crazy idea that we should start with the youngest kid and let them open all of their gifts before moving on to the next kid.  Turns out the youngest (my 3 year old niece) is the world's slowest present opener.  He was not happy about it.  The picture on the left was taken during her turn.  Grandmama finally agreed that they could all just open some, so he perked right up and was super happy about his new Ninjago spinner.  Sometimes it's frustrating having a kid who always shows his emotions, but on the flipside when they are showing their joy it's so fun to see!

I just love this photo of the boys playing with someone's phone.  They are so cute together. 

I love this photo of my kids with their great-grandpa.  I'm so glad he's still around and they love him so much.

This was taken Christmas morning.  She was so excited about her doll.  She didn't really notice the present at first and then when she finally saw it she said, "I know what that is!!!".  It was so cute.  My boy wanted this hat when he saw it in a store one day so we went and got it for him and he looks soooo cute in it!  The rest of his presents were legos and he was so happy about that.

I had to include some snow pictures.  This is the most snow we've had in a long time.  The kids were so excited about it and they've already built 2 snowmen and 2 snow forts and had a couple of snow ball fights.  We even went sledding.  I can officially be done with winter now.  :)  If only that was how it worked...

He fell down in the snow and needed some help getting up.  They were just a little bundled. :)

I hope you all had as wonderful of a Christmas as we did!  I'll be posting more photos and memories next week!

Friday, December 21, 2012

Photo Friday 2012 ~ 51 ~

I can't believe it's almost Christmas!!  The kids are really excited.  I'm taking them to see Santa today so they can give him their lists.  Today is our first day of Christmas break and it snowed!  How appropriate. :)  We have been busy, busy, busy with fun stuff this week.  We celebrated Christmas with my dad's side of the family and we did a white elephant exchange which the kids thought was the greatest thing ever.  I have some photos to share, but I'm going to do a separate post for them.  Then the kids had their Christmas play at church.  My girl had a little solo and I was so proud of her.  She did awesome.  My boy actually sang this year, which made me proud too!  Usually he just stands up there looking bored, but I bribed him with candy if I could actually see his mouth moving when he sang. :)  Then I took my girl to see the Nutcracker!  She had never been to the ballet or to the theater before so it was so fun to see her eyes light up with excitement over the whole thing.  She really enjoyed it.  We went with my mom and I hope we are going to make it a yearly tradition.  My mom took me every year when I was little and I remember looking forward to such a special day.  My boy spent the day with some of his buddies and had a blast.  I went out with some friends last night downtown and it was fun to see the city all lit up with lights and decorated.  Whew.  I'm ready for a night at home snuggled by the fire.  Here are my favorite photos from the week!

 I took these before the Christmas play.  I had some posed shots of both of them, but this of course ended up being my favorite.  I love these two cuties.

My girl at the theater with her doll, Ruby.  We had pretty good seats!  I was asked to put my camera away after I took this since there is no photography allowed in the theater.  Oops...

Taken this morning.  My kids went outside right after breakfast.  They love snow.   I love her eyes in this.

I love this too!  I love her pink cheeks.  Some of my favorite photos of her ever have been taken when she was bundled up playing in the snow.

My boy.  Every shot of him pretty much looked like this since he wouldn't lift his chin out of his coat.  Not that I blame him, it was cold out there!  And before he went outside he kept telling me how he didn't want me to button his coat over his face.  :)

Being silly and eating a snowball.  She could stay out there forever.  She really doesn't mind the cold.  She definitely doesn't get that trait from me!

Have a very warm and Merry Christmas!!!  

Friday, December 14, 2012

Photo Friday 2012 ~ 50 ~

Something I love about downloading pictures from my camera to my computer is the occasional times that I find photos that I had completely forgotten about taking.  That happened again this week.  Almost always it is when the kids ask me to take pictures of something, because in those moments I just grab the camera and snap and don't even think about composition or lighting or anything technical.  I usually have no plan for using them in any way other than just to have them.  Sometimes they turn out horrible which is fine, but sometimes they turn out better than expected.  And sometimes it's nice just to have normal family photos that don't always look so perfect, because let's face it, our lives are far from perfect.

This photo is technically all wrong...the flash was off and it was way too dark and she wasn't perfectly still so the result was blurry and grainy...but I seriously do not even care because she is so adorable in this that I love it!

Her pirate name that day was "Dead Eye Debbie".  :)  I love how she tied a baby blanket around her head for her pirate hat.  Such a girly pirate.

They had pushed together the chairs to be the pirate ship.  And this is a pretty typical face that he makes when he's hamming it up for the camera.  I also like the toilet paper tube turned pirate spyglass. :)

I took this last night while she was wrapping presents.  She has made presents for almost everyone in our family including aunts and cousins.  I didn't even know because she had been hiding them in a secret spot.  She is such a sweet, thoughtful girl.  And this is another technically not so great photo that I still love.  It was extremely dark in the room and there was just one little desk light on.  I cranked the ISO and tried to be steady handed.  I think it turned out pretty good considering.

 She was concentrating hard on wrapping.  I love her face from this angle.

Can you believe it's only 10 days until Christmas!!  I will try to post some more, but I'm busy, busy, busy so we'll see.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Photo Friday 2012 ~ 49 ~

Somehow Photo Friday slipped my mind the other day!  To say I have a lot of things on my mind would be a massive understatement, so I'm not surprised.  I usually have to remind myself to post something by writing it in my planner, and I forgot to write it down so it didn't get done.  I'm gonna go write the it on the rest of the Fridays in my calendar right now...done.  Now I hopefully won't forget...at least for the rest of the year.  I don't have a 2013 calendar yet, which reminds me I need to get one.  This week was busy with designing and ordering our Christmas cards, Christmas shopping (finally! I just started), practicing for the Christmas programs at church and everything else we normally do in the week.  Next week will be even more jam packed, so I'm trying to get some rest in today!  I took some photos last Sunday of my kids and my niece and nephew for my mom's Christmas card and I have just one to share.  My favorite.

I love them.

The End.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Bananagrams Bragging

We like to play games at our house.  We are a competitive bunch which can be good and bad. :)  Last week my girl got to stay up a little later than her brother and she wanted to play Bananagrams with us.  It's kinda like scrabble, but without the board and it goes much quicker because each person is essentially building their own little board, not adding onto the others.  I just had to brag on my girl because even though she is only 8 I know she is going to be a major contender in this game.  Here is her board from the last game.

Once she figures out that she can spread it out a little more she's gonna be blowing us away.  She took a lot of time making sure the words up and down all made sense and worked.  The only word I helped her with was 'gulp' because she was having a hard time using up her last few letters.  

I'm so proud of my smarty pants girl!

Friday, November 30, 2012

Photo Friday 2012 ~ 48 ~

I cannot believe that it is going to be Christmas in just a few short weeks.  I am so not ready for it.  I am totally ready for Christmas break though, that can't come soon enough!  I am looking forward to some time off with the kids to do some fun things.  I feel like we haven't taken advantage of our homeschooling flexibility enough and had outings and field trips like I've wanted to.  So, I'm hoping to change that and get out before all the regular school kids get off and make every place so crowded.  We'll see if I succeed.  My photos this week are so random.  I made my son go outside this morning so I could take his picture because he happens to have on my favorite shirt of his today.  He wasn't exactly in a cooperative mood though, so these aren't spectacular, but hey, they do show his personality!

Just imagine he is swinging that stick around like some sort of ninja weapon and making weird ninja sound effects.  Yep, that's my boy.

Funny story about his shirt.  When I got it for him I had to explain to him what that expression meant.  And I had to explain to him that that's a picture of the devil.  He didn't know who the devil was, so I explained how the devil is the enemy of God.  Then he couldn't really understand why I would want him to wear a shirt with the enemy of God on it.  :)  And then he commented on how he should not ever wear that shirt to church because that would be really bad!  He's so funny.

Not exactly super dangerous dare devil stuff...but the closest I could get.

This photo is completely unrelated, but we let the kids stay up late the other night to watch Charlie Brown Christmas and they were both warming their little butts by the fire, so I had to take a picture.  She's watching  tv from that weird angle and that's just pretty typical of my boy right down to the pj's with one leg up and one down.

Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

25 Weekers at 52 Weeks ~ A Photo Shoot ~

You know how when babies are born you count their age in days?  And then weeks.  And then Months.  And at some point we just lose track and start counting years.  That's how it goes for most of us.  Now imagine your children are born and you are literally counting their every breath.  Every second.  Every minute is a gift.  Each moment a treasure to savor because you have no idea how long you have.  Now imagine all of that times two.  I honestly cannot even begin to comprehend what that would feel like.  The fear, the heart gripping moments, the total and complete lack of control over anything.  And on the flip side, the elation, the joy, the gratitude, and the celebration of each tiny victory.  When I heard the news that a friend had given birth to her twins 15 weeks early, I was amazed first and foremost that medical technology could even make it possible for these tiny people to survive.  But ultimately it's not up to medical technology at all, it's up to God, and so we prayed.  And we prayed some more.  And I followed their stories riveted to see how those prayers would be answered.  Each update would show cause for more praises and more prayers.  I honestly don't know how these two incredible parents were able to even stand during the uncertainty that faced them time and again.  But their testimony of faith is something I will never forget.  Every time I look at the faces of their children I am reminded of the power of prayer.  The faithfulness of their parents.  And the gift of life.  Each and EVERY life.  No matter how small or how short.  The fact that they live and breathe and have a soul to praise God is enough.  They are gifts...pure and simple.  What a beautiful reminder to stop and take a moment to praise Him that we are here and that we are fearfully and wonderfully made.  I feel honored to share these photos with you of two very precious children who have touched countless lives in their short time here so far.

Here they are!  Hello beautiful twins!

This sweet girl has the tiniest little mouth and it's so cute.  She's come a long way since her 1 pounds and 10 ounces.  I can't even fathom how tiny that is!

I am so in love with this picture.  I love his curls, his gorgeous green eyes and his little teeth peeping through! And you would never know that this boy used to be a tiny 2 pound miracle.

I love, love, love pictures of mamas with their babies, especially this one.

The light was so perfect that day.  I feel like this girl is gonna have the same sweet, shy personality of her mama and that makes me happy.  Of course, she'll probably go and prove me completely wrong now. :)

I love her smile...although she only gives them out sparingly.  That makes me appreciate the ones I caught all the more!

Can we just take a moment and admire the green eyes on this kid?!  I love me a green eyed kid...having nothing to do with the fact that I have green eyes.  ;)

I love her adorable expression in this one.

I love his serious expression here too.  He has the most perfect little face!

Another sweet smile.  I think I see a dimple. You know I'm a sucker for dimples...

I hope these photos warm your heart as much as they do mine.

Friday, November 23, 2012

Photo Friday 2012 ~ 47 ~

Today I am sitting here thinking of how thankful I am for so many things.  My sweet family and the extended family who loves us.  My mom.  My husband.  My home and the pretty things in it.  The jobs that provide those things.  My friends.  Our freedoms.  And above all my Savior who loved me enough to die for me and is the Great Provider of every single one of the blessings I enjoy.  To express my thanks will never be enough even if I praise Him for all of eternity.

My photos this week were taken yesterday on our day of thanksgiving.  We spent the day with my husband's side of the family and it was a day filled with good food, lots of love, and plenty of laughter.  I snapped a few pictures of the kids playing outside on the playset build years ago for children who are now grown.  A new generation is now swinging and climbing and for that I am thankful as well.  Here are my favorites.

I wanted a photo of the four cousins, but my littlest niece was not in the mood.  These three are still pretty cute though!

I'm thankful for these little girlies and how much they love each other despite not seeing each other that often.  They get along so well and I love watching them play together.

My sweet monkey of a niece who I adore.

My baby in her adorable Thanksgiving outfit that she picked out herself.

I just really love this picture.  I love how you can see her shadow on the grass and the way she just looks like she's floating.  What a lovely picture of carefree childhood fun.

I hope you all had a lovely Thankgiving and have as many things to be thankful for as we do.  We are now busy getting the house ready for Christmas!  I cannot believe how soon it is, I'm off to go help decorate and get us in the spirit!

Friday, November 16, 2012

Photo Friday 2012 ~ 46 ~

This week I am so busy it's ridiculous.  As I sit here typing this I am nursing the most ridiculous injury known to man...I have mouse finger.  It's like carpal tunnel but in your finger from clicking your mouse too much.  Seriously?  And it hurts...for real.  Like the tip of my finger is swollen and throbbing and I can hardly bend it. I feel like a wuss.  I am trying to use other fingers to click the mouse and it's just awkward.  The best thing for it according to the internet is to rest it.  But considering I've still got seven more sessions to edit right now I'm not gonna be resting it for another week or so.  I guess that's the curse of being a busy photographer.  Not that I am complaining about that!  I am really enjoying that I've been so busy this year.  It kinda sneaked up on me.  It wasn't my intention at all.  Anyway, this post is supposed to be about my favorite photos of the week.  I hardly took any.  So these are the weirdest hodgepodge of photos I've had in a while.  Hopefully you won't judge me too harshly for my lack of creativity this week.

The other day I was sitting with my son doing school work and I looked over into the other room and something caught my eye.  I thought briefly that those colors looked so beautiful in the window.  Then I realized what they were.   Boys...

Close up of my ninja decorations.  They are still there.  Just hanging out in the window. Please don't judge my dirty windows either.  My kids look out that window all the time and it's impossible to keep it fingerprint and smudge free.

He asked me to take this picture of him with giant lego wheel eyes.

My husband is another year older.  This is a terrible photo, but I kinda like how my husband looks like he's glowing.  I didn't have enough candles so we had to improvise.  It's just been that kind of week.

Have a great weekend!

Friday, November 9, 2012

Photo Friday 2012 ~ 45 ~

Today is a gorgeous day!  One of those days to make me say I do love fall.  Although I still miss summer like you wouldn't believe...  The air is warm, the sun is shining, and there are so many beautiful little details to notice.  While the kids were outside having recess this morning I followed them with my camera and captured some of the beauty around me in my own backyard.  It put me in a thankful, calm mood, which is totally appropriate for a November morning.  Here are my favorite photos from today.  Enjoy!

 I love these seed things (technical term).  They are so beautiful!  And I love the light hitting them, it's perfect.

My kids like to squish these beautiful little berries.

I love that we got to explore and learn about nature this morning.  Days like this make me so glad that we chose to homeschool.  I love the vibrant green of this moss.

My girl found this striped stone and informed me that her first grade teacher told her it's a wishing stone if the stripes go all the way around.  So we went down to the creek and she threw it in and made a wish.

My sweet boy climbing around by the creek.

We found some sort of fungus growing on an old log.  Even that is beautiful this time of year.

When did this boy get so big?  I wish I could slow down the time.

Some more of the beauty of fall.

My girl and her beautiful eyes.  

 I'm excited for another photo shoot this weekend and enjoying some more of this beautiful weather.  Have a great weekend!

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